Leeds Festival chiefs give music fans warning over legal highs

Music fans have been handed a stark warning over so-called legal highs ahead of this year’s Leeds Festival.

Organisers have banned the substances from the annual rock extravaganza’s site at Bramham Park, near Wetherby.

They say legal highs are “unpredictable and can be dangerous” and have told fans: “Please don’t be fooled that they are safe to bring to the event.”

A warning on the festival website says: “If you look at the packaging you will see that legal/herbal highs are sold with “not for human consumption” marked on the packet.

“There is good reason for this – their contents are toxic, even the plant based ones, they are untested on humans and they do kill.”

The festival’s banned list also includes fireworks, air horns, laser pens, Chinese lanterns and “any items which may reasonably be considered for use as a weapon”.

This year’s event will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend with a line-up that includes The Libertines, Mumford & Sons and Metallica.

The event has been held at Bramham Park each year since 2003, when it made the move from its previous home at Temple Newsam in east Leeds.

Legal highs have similar effects to illegal drugs like cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy but their exact chemical make-up means they are not subject to the strictures imposed by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The Psychoactive Substances Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will introduce a blanket ban on their production, distribution, sale and supply.